The Internet has allowed people from all over the world to access information on various products and services made available to these users, at literally the touch of a button. E-commerce sites on the Internet for on-line shopping provide many products and services to users of the Internet through a variety of shopping venues or interfaces. These e-commerce sites typically provide specific information regarding products and services and allow users to purchase these products and services directly over the Internet.
More specifically, a typical e-commerce website will provide multiple webpages that allow the user to access information about various products and services by moving from one page to the other. The user may typically search through the website by entering a product query and conducting an automated search of the multiple pages in the website, or the user may select a product classification—such as “electronics”—and delve through the multiple pages, layer after layer, sifting through various levels of information until he locates the products or services he is interested in purchasing. In some cases, the user will reach a page on the website which contains information on the product or service in which he is interested. The user will then select that particular product or service and more detailed information will be provided. This information may often be accompanied by an image of the product or service and an option or instructions for purchasing.
The user may then purchase these products and services directly through a virtual shopping cart. When a user wishes to purchase a product or service, he or she simply clicks an appropriately labeled icon, and the item is then placed in the virtual shopping cart. Normally, the quantity and price will also appear at the virtual shopping cart. The user may review the contents of the virtual shopping cart at any time and remove items from the cart. Typically, the user will continue with his or her on-line shopping at the website until he has selected all the products or services wanted from that website. The user will then typically check-out from the website. The checkout process normally involves confirming the products in the virtual shopping cart for purchase, entering credit card/billing information, and entering a shipping address. In many cases, however, the user abandons the virtual shopping cart and leaves the web site without ever completing the check-out process, resulting in a lost sale to the e-commerce vendor.
In these types of e-commerce websites, there are several limitations. First, the user can only access the products and services available at that website. Accordingly, a user may have to jump from one website to the other in order to purchase different products and/or services. Additionally, the user will have to perform a search of the website each time in order to locate the products and services in which he or she is interested. For example, a website may sell home furnishings and clothing, with the website designed such that information about the home furnishings is placed on one web page and information about the clothing is on another web page. If the user wants information about both, he or she must move from page to page within the website. Finally, these sites are not conducive to the “impulse buyer”. Instead, they are geared more toward providing a consumer with products or services in which he is already interested in purchasing, versus capitalizing in on the spot advertising and product placement in videos and commercials in order to sell additional goods to the consumer. Accordingly, Internet traffic at these e-commerce sites is often highly dependent upon a user knowing which products or services he or she is interested in purchasing. This is significant since many e-commerce sites fail because they do not have enough business and are unable to direct heavy streams of continued traffic and business to their websites.
The Internet also provides users with a host of entertainment websites. These websites may provide audio and/or video content for a user to listen to and/or watch via his or her computer. The user is typically given a number of videos from which to select, ranging from music videos to full length motion pictures, and the user may view these videos directly on his or her computer. Often, the user may see some product in the video that he desires to own, such as a pair of shoes, a shirt, or an automobile. It is desired to capitalize on this impulse buy phenomenon at the very moment it arises. Unfortunately, the user often does not know the brand name, make or model of the product or where to purchase the product. Further, the user may lose interest as time elapses and is not likely to follow-up on finding out more about the product or purchasing the product. Accordingly, a potential sale of the product to that user is being missed.
Therefore, what is needed is a method for effectively and efficiently combining entertainment websites with available products and services in order to directly link web traffic from a website having video content to various product and service websites, thereby promoting and encouraging efficient e-commerce and capitalizing on potential impulse buyers. What is further needed is a way to direct web traffic to various e-commerce websites in a user-friendly manner, which is fully interactive and highly visible. What is further needed is a business method and model for tracking user activity at these e-commerce websites in order to share profits from purchases made as a result of directing the web traffic to the website.